Burn
by Aiko-Chan4
Summary: A Rick story, shows the depressed side of him due to the pressures of Kai, Karen, and his mother's illness (based on events in BTN)


Burn.  
  
(AN: Angsty fic, ooh sadness. I kinda realised that about the middle of the game (HM:BTN) Rick becomes like really depressed, so I wanted to write about that. My goal, to actually finish it ^^d heh...wow I finished it, pretty short but I like it. It is sort of not true to BTN, but it is...yeah...)  
  
(Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Natsume.) (Quick note: ###Ricks Thoughts###)  
  
  
  
"No Rick, maybe she isn't mad at you for what happened, but how your acting! You can't treat Popuri like a baby!"  
  
"It's all that Kai's fault!"  
  
"Kai is not the one you should be worrying about Rick."  
  
"If he's so great, why don't you date him?!"  
  
"You cad!!"  
  
Karen turned around, her golden hair glittering as it whipped around with her. She stormed off, very mad at the only guy she had liked in a while. Of course, Rick didn't know this.  
  
###That was brilliant. Just brilliant.###  
  
He fingered the fragile feather in his pocket. The fragile blue feather. The feather that had cost him his month's wages.  
  
###Why me? Why today, of all days, does Karen have a reason to get mad at me?###  
  
But Rick knew why. Lately things were bad. Not only that Jack had been glancing at Karen longingly ever since Ann chose Cliff, and it wasn't like Karen was ignoring Jack either, but his sister was now dating Kai.  
  
###Kai. Why does no one listen to me? He's a jerk, a real jerk. He leaves unpaid debts, and broken hearts, and leaves every single fall. Why does he only come for the summer? Less excitement in the big city I suppose, maybe his city girlfriend goes on vacation then.###  
  
Rick was in the middle of the pasture, where Karen had left him. He felt as though he was frozen, though the heat in his face could have melted the ice.  
  
###He weaves magical worlds for Popuri with words. He means no good, once he gets up her skirt it will be on to the next girl. Why can't anyone take my advice for once!###  
  
And worst of all, was his mother. Lillia. She wasn't getting any better, but she was getting worse. The past few days she couldn't get out of bed. Popuri and Rick had some unspoken pact, not to act like they cared.  
  
###If we don't care, it can't hurt us when she dies.###  
  
Where was Dad with this medicine? It had been 3 years since he vowed to make Lillia better, and 3 years later where was he?  
  
###He's probably got some better life now. Better than a sick wife, an idiot daughter and a son who's brain outweighs his brawn. What kind of family is that? Who wants a son if he can't do as much physical work as he does thinking.###  
  
He sat down and leaned against a fencepost, his head hanging down. Slowly, his glasses slipped off his nose and into the mossy ground below him.  
  
###It's better this way, what I don't know, what I can't see, well it can't hurt me. If I just push it all out and forget it all. Forget that my mother is dying. Forget that I don't have a father. Forget that my sister is acting like a cheap woman. Forget that the girl I was planning to propose to hates me. Forget that the next-door neighbor is single, attractive, and masculine. And interested, we can't forget the fact that he's interested in Karen. Who wouldn't be? She's the perfect mix of beauty and wit. A girl with a brain, and she's not afraid to use it. A girl with as many problems as me.###  
  
A tear, silvery and hot, slowly made its way down the side of his face, and more followed. He didn't sob, or heave, just the little tears fell down. They were comforting, like a song. He felt the beat, the rhythm of each tear rolling down, gaining speed, and then rocketing off his chin.  
  
###There was a time when it was ok for a boy to cry. When I would cry, mom would hug me and comfort me. Popuri can still get away with crying because she's a girl. The tables are turned now, I have to comfort her. I have to be the mother, and Popuri won't listen. There is no way I can make her listen. There was a time when Karen and I would hold hands, when we were best friends and there wasn't pressure, when all the other boys weren't asking her to go out. There was a time when Popuri would do anything and believe anything that I said. It's all gone. Like Pon. Ever since that stupid chicken, that stupid stupid chicken. It's all the chicken's fault.###  
  
~There you go blaming it on someone else Rick!~ He heard Popuri's voice echoing in his head.  
  
Now he was sobbing, choking over his breath, and rubbing frantically at his eyes. He crawled behind a tombstone, then stood and ran into the woods sobbing. He sat under a tree and cried until no more tears came. The tree is where he kissed Karen for the first time. And it held such memories. Now he sat in silence, his red face damp and his clothing muddy.  
  
###I like all the villagers except Kai. He comes every summer, upsets everything and then leaves. Mom and Popuri like him, so I'm not allowed to say anything about it. It's all Kai's fault Popuri and I am going to blame it on him whether you like it or not.###  
  
His heavy head leaned back against the tree, and his eyes shut, letting his brain drift off into troubled sleep, while Popuri picked up his glasses, muddy and bent, laying pitifully.  
  
"Oh...noo....Rick!" She cried. "Rick! Oh....this isn't good."  
  
  
  
((AN:You like?)) 


End file.
